A long-range goal of New Mexico State University (NMSU) is to expand research and increase the opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to pursue careers in health science fields. The proposed program has as its objectives: (1) to increase the number of ethnic minority undergraduate students at this institution who major in biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics with interests in biomedical research; (2) to encourage, recruit, and retain undergraduates in these disciplines by engaging them as participants in active on-going research programs; (3) to increase the number of ethnic minority graduate students in these areas so as to contribute to a larger pool of research investigators with Ph.D. degrees and expertise in biomedical research. To accomplish these goals it is proposed initially that fourteen undergraduates and eight graduate students be recruited to work in apprenticeship positions as part of eleven active, on-going graduate research projects in the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics. After a limited period of training to acquire basic laboratory skills, students will be permitted to select individual research projects for their independent investigation. Students may select research projects from areas including: functions of avian respiratory systems; cyclic AMP metabolism in bacteria; the role of proteases in bacterial sporulation; morphogenesis in fungi, reproductive biochemistry and embryogenesis; function, structure, and regulation of yeast pyrivate dehydrogenase; mathematical modeling of biostochastic processes; and the mediation of nuclear nonhistone acidic protein phosphorylation of polyamines in slime mold.